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chapter five

"If you are going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

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"I, for one, would just like to say that I'm really happy Naruto's not here right now." Kakashi broke the silence. "Because this is one of those, 'are we there yet' moments."

Sakura barked a laugh, moving a branch so it didn't hit her face when she passed it. Sasuke snorted. "That's so true."

They loved their blonde friend, but he just loved getting on their nerves. And by that, I mean the incessant asking of the one question that drives every single parent just a little bit insane. He was born impatient, just like his mother, and traveling with him was honestly a chore.

"We're almost there." Kakashi, the only one who really remembered how to get to Kumo, said. Sakura and Sasuke had each been to Kumo on numerous occasions. For Sasuke, once to take the Eight Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, and for Sakura, well... she ran numerous errands for Lady Tsunade in her time. The female Sannin died later on in the war, during the fight with the Ten Tails. Sakura took over as head medic, and Kakashi was put in as Hokage. A week after her death, they finally figured out how to seal Kaguya. But the point of that rant was, though they'd been there before, neither of the kids really remembered how to get to Kumo.

"Okay. Good." Sakura sped up a little bit to match Kakashi's pace. Their five year old bodies weren't taking this well, but neither Sasuke nor Sakura were planning on mentioning it. This was making the two of them stronger physically, in a way.

As she was running next to him, Kakashi turned his head to look at her. "Are you ready to get your new summon?" He asked. There were multiple underlying questions with that. Are you ready to fight a bunch of overgrown cats if need be? Why do you need a new summoning contract? Isn't Katsuyu enough? Are you okay?

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sakura ignored the other questions, putting her head down and running. She didn't want to talk about her choice. Sasuke had two summoning animals- hawks and snakes. That was okay. Sakura needed two summoning animals, too, preferably one that is good for the offense and defense. She believed Katsuyu would work better under pressure if she was being protected. It would be easier to heal this way.

Sakura had a reason for this choice, and that's all they needed to know.

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Kumo is the kind of place that you never really get over how pretty it is. The city was hidden in between mountains protruding from the sea, which made it very easily defendable. Plus, some of the other columns of rock had towers built into them for the offensive. The clouds were a brilliant white, and sky was a beautiful blue. The water matched it. It was so clear, if they held still for long enough, Sakura could see very far down. Wreaths of green climbed up the gray walls of the thin rock mountain islands they passed by, on their way to the main island.

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke were sitting in a rowboat, the three of them switching on and off for a turn with the oars. Naturally, Kakashi took the brunt of the rowing, he just allowed Sakura and Sasuke to try it a couple of times for the sake of building endurance.

"We're here." Kakashi told his students as they pulled up on the shore. Sakura and Sasuke pulled the boat up far enough that it wasn't going to drift off, and Kakashi led them up onto the beach.

The city was further down, the giant gates were opened to tourists as they walked up. Kakashi removed his Konoha headband, and he grabbed Sasuke and Sakura each by the hand. The three of them had backpacks slung over their shoulders, and they masked their chakra so that they fit in perfectly with the civilians.